Building Project Dedication

We had a great day at Jefferson church yesterday. Our building project has finally been completed and we dedicated the new facilities as part of our Lord's Day worship. My predecessor at JUMC, the Rev. Dr. Douglas Heagy, who had originally cast the vision for the project, joined us (on loan from First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Greensburg, PA) with his family as part of a wonderful homecoming. Doug brought the word to a full house and did an excellent job. He talked about "taking the long view", noting that we may not often see the fruit that is produced by our faithfulness, but it is important nevertheless to labor for the Kingdom and trust that God has something special in store. Timely words.

We then ventured out of the sanctuary to our new facilities to consecrate and dedicate them for Kingdom use. Joining Doug and I were Trustee chairperson Bud Turner, architect John Kudravy, and fundraising leader Ron Lewis, all three of whom served on our Vision Committee for the project. A time of fellowship followed, with refreshments provided by the Boy Scout troop we sponsor.

In the above pic, you can see on the left some of the improvements to our education building...new roof, new windows, new doors, new siding. You can also see our new corridor which now connects our education building and our worship building for the first time in the 165 year history of JUMC. Some members of our church family are standing in our beautiful new courtyard, which is a lovely setting for fellowship as well as for prayer.

In this pic, you can see one of the blocks in our new corridor. One side is bordered with blocks purchased to help defray the costs of our project; those blocks are dedicated in memory or honor of loved ones. The other side of the corridor is bordered with blocks listing the names of every pastor who has served JUMC since its founding in 1843, along with their dates of service. It is quite an honor to be included in this blessed roll call.

All in all, a terrific day. Our new improvements better equip us to reach out to our community, providing a more efficient, safe, and attractive headquarters for mission to Jefferson Hills and Pleasant Hills (the two communities I consider to be my "primary parish"). It is a true blessing to serve alongside such a neat team of saints, and I thank God that I'm along for this ride.